Castle Hill View

A subject blog

Interning as a Research Officer for Community Foundation for Calderdale

I had recently finished my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, and knowing it was going to be difficult to get a job straight away, I sought advice through the University of Huddersfield Careers and Employability Service. I spoke to the lovely Su Maynard who went through a couple of internships available through the university. One particularly stayed on my mind, titled- Research Officer Intern. I knew I loved to research, but I mainly thought it was due to my nosy nature! It was in the charity sector so I had to apply. Su went through the job description criteria and made sure I was 100% ready for my interview. Attending the interview, I met two lovely members of staff, my new Line manager (Emma Woods-Bolger) and the Chief Executive of the Foundation (Steve Duncan).

So what did I end up doing?

The role required me to find, collect and transcribe data, presenting it for illustrative purposes. Working in the charity sector, my passion for research increased and by exceeding deadlines, I was given the opportunity to network with other charities, agencies, businesses and residence throughout Calderdale which looks really good on my CV and will help me for my future career.

Luckily, I started my internship even before I formally graduated which is quite a blessing in our society these days. The internship has been extremely challenging but rewarding as I have grown exponentially from it, and increased my confidence not only in communication but also within myself and tasks that I can do and the skills I have.

I have really enjoyed the experience and I am grateful that the university knows how to reward hard work. As a celebration for being the first summer internship scheme my picture ended up going on the central services wall. It was an amazing experience that allowed me to go further in my career.

Interning as a Junior Analyst for the Higher Education Academy

Following from my first summer internship at the University, I was looking for a fixed term role to continue on my career. I knew I wanted to become a behaviour analyst one day, so first I needed some data analytical experience. Luckily, the university had a graduate internship scheme which began in September. I found an internship which was very closely related to last job titled – Junior Analyst. Once again the careers department made sure I was 100% ready for my interview, which resulted in me getting the job.

I worked directly for the Vice Chancellors Office, but this is where it gets a little complicated. I also worked for the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and had to be based in London (at QSIU) because that is where the software, and tools I needed were. Arriving there, I was welcomed into a lovely office surrounded by such a diverse and international group of people. Starting in November, my role required me for the next six months to gather and analyse data for all the universities in the UK, organise and support a one-day workshop for the universities and finally create and present a portfolio for each university that attended.

I really enjoyed the role as it gave me a sense of leadership and project coordination. As a result of the hard work I attended the HEA event for Vice-Chancellors and Principals with the lovely Professor Dave Taylor (my manager) to celebrate all the projects they funded for the year. It has been such a rewarding experience and a really enjoyable event where I got to rub shoulders with the leaders of the academic world, and also got to meet the inspiring Floella Benjamin.